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Today in our attrition: Barry J Sanders edition - Printable Version

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Re: Today in our attrition: Barry J Sanders edition - Mick - 01-11-2016

(01-11-2016, 01:16 PM)Boston Card link Wrote:Here's a thought experiment...

ESPN broadcasts the little league world series every year, which means that organization is making a fair bit of money on the backs of little league athletes.  So, should little leaguers be entitled to some proportion of the TV money?

BC

Little leaguers don't work 40 hours a week at baseball.  They get about six hours in.  I'd say that makes them amateurs.

Re: Today in our attrition: Barry J Sanders edition - ThePassionOfTheChryst - 01-11-2016

(01-11-2016, 07:40 PM)JJJ link Wrote:[quote author=ThePassionOfTheChryst link=topic=14318.msg152330#msg152330 date=1452565875]
[quote author=Boston Card link=topic=14318.msg152329#msg152329 date=1452565593]
[quote author=ThePassionOfTheChryst link=topic=14318.msg152325#msg152325 date=1452564291]
Now, there's one thing we have to consider.  Athletes are the only college students who are forbidden from earning money for their skills.  If I'm a talented programmer I can leave school to go work at Google.  If I'm a musician, or an actor, or possess some other remarkable skill, there's nothing stopping me from pursuing a career in that at 18 or 19.  But if I'm a football player, I'm stuck.  I can't go to the NFL, even if there's a market for me.  I can't earn money from my skills.

Isn't that the NFL's problem?  I mean, in baseball, the NCAA coexists with MLB and promising baseball players have a choice of entering the draft out of high school, after their junior year, or after graduating.  Although I really don't like the "one and done" culture that it creates, in basketball, players can sign with the NBA after one year.  It's only the NFL that refuses to let anyone be drafted out of high school, most likely because why spend money developing a viable minor league when you have college football, which not only develops talent (both physical and skills development), but also gets it much more hype and publicity than would a minor league system.

But that's not really the NCAA's doing.  If there weren't draft restrictions from the NFL, it's not like the NCAA places restrictions on when people can be drafted.

BC
[/quote]

You're right about that, I was unfairly placing the blame for that on the NCAA.

I still don't believe they should be barred from being paid.  Should they be paid directly by their universities?  I don't know.  But there's no reason why Popular Player X should be barred from selling autographs, for example.
[/quote]

Genuine question I don't know the answer to. Do talented programmers/musicians/actors receive full rides for their talents? (Or is it more like a combination of loans and campus jobs?) If they do, and can work in addition, that's one thing. If not, then I think the comparisons need to be made between walk-ons and said programmers/musicians/actors for apples to apples, which I agree is still not fair.
[/quote]

I don't know the extent to which other gifted students are helped financially, but I'd have a hard time believing athletes are the only recipients of scholarships.  Heck, there's one particularly prestigious university on the Peninsula that doesn't charge you anything if you (or your family) make below a certain threshold, iirc.

Again, I'm not necessarily advocating for athletes to receive compensation directly from their universities, but I can't think of a single justification for them not to be able to sell autographs or jerseys, be paid for appearances, etc.

Re: Today in our attrition: Barry J Sanders edition - JJJ - 01-11-2016

(01-11-2016, 07:50 PM)ThePassionOfTheChryst link Wrote:Again, I'm not necessarily advocating for athletes to receive compensation directly from their universities, but I can't think of a single justification for them not to be able to sell autographs or jerseys, be paid for appearances, etc.

I can't think of a single justification either. Should be a free market. (Hmm, perhaps some of the nastiness that that invites may be an issue--like corrupt handlers and other shady characters that will be drawn like vultures--not at Stanford but most certainly at some other schools.)

Re: Today in our attrition: Barry J Sanders edition - CTcard - 01-11-2016

(01-11-2016, 07:50 PM)ThePassionOfTheChryst link Wrote:Again, I'm not necessarily advocating for athletes to receive compensation directly from their universities, but I can't think of a single justification for them not to be able to sell autographs or jerseys, be paid for appearances, etc.

Well, right or wrong, we may as well state the reason that such restrictions are in place.

One purpose of the NCAA is to maintain some semblance of competitive balance. It's pretty clear that once there's an open market for selling autographs, etc., deep-pocket-psycho-booster of Large Program U will then go promise to buy X dollars worth of autographs if only star player will sign with dear old Large Program U.  We then have an open bidding war for players.



Re: Today in our attrition: Barry J Sanders edition - TreesAndBirds - 01-11-2016

While I am not a tax expert, I suspect that if players start getting paid amounts above the cost of schooling (or unionize), they become employees and their compensation becomes taxable, probably including scholarship value etc. This could result in a net negative financial impact for players who might only make an additional $25K or so. It might also change the tax status of athletic departments although that and all of this is really a guess.

But to be clear, I dont think this issue comes down to tax policy, it comes down to what universities are all about. Peter Thiel has tried to convince the most promising high school students to start/join promising start ups and bypass college. I dont think universities should start offering those students more money to come to their school instead, even if they are likely to create great technologies or products that will make money for the university. And while I fully acknowledge how hard football players work, so do a lot of other students (especially grad students) who  toil away in labs and  will make relatively little on any discoveries they make.






Re: Today in our attrition: Barry J Sanders edition - CowboyIndian - 01-11-2016

(01-11-2016, 07:31 PM)ThePassionOfTheChryst link Wrote:  But there's no reason why Popular Player X should be barred from selling autographs, for example.
I'd say there are plenty of reasons...number one being the boosters paying for those autographs.